So in case you were not around cool humans a few weeks ago, you might not have heard that The Replacements are reforming to play three shows this summer at the Riot Fest (!!!). I am not a rioty person, but I do love me some Paul Westerberg in all of his many forms, and this news came out of a wonderful left field to surprise most of us. Even though we don’t know who else is in the band this go around (other than Tommy Stinson, and, maybe, Prince) — IT’S THE REPLACEMENTS.

I was trying to explain The Replacements to my intern (again, with the intern. This kid is getting double his unpaid-work-hours money) and I used words like “sloppy but melodic” and “like, this visceral rawness with classic rock n’ roll underpinnings.” I used the word “punk” a few times; something about the Beatles; we talked about the dangers of alcohol overuse. I think we both went home from work that day better human beings, and now he has a new band to discover.

Back in 2006 I posted a pirate’s treasure trove of Replacements and Westerberg rarities and b-sides that a reader sent me. In honor of the Riot Fest news, and to announce the ticket giveaway I get to do for it, here they are again below, all re-upped.

TICKET GIVEAWAY!I have two pairs of 2-day passes to the Denver stop of Riot Fest to give away to Fuel/Friends readers. It’s happening September 21 and 22 on a farm-looking place outside of town; I’ll also be going and probably camping, which should be delightful.

TO ENTER TO WIN: leave a comment telling me why you should win a pair of tickets, and I will pick two winners in a week or so.

Man, something about these warm summery weeks, or maybe an aural hangover from my driving journey through West Texas, but lately all kinds of down-home music is grabbing me. Something about the authenticity of a good campfire sad song, or a mandolin + fiddle. I mean, sure I’m still going to dance my ass off at Ghostland Observatory this Saturday, but for today, this is hitting the right notes:

Justin Townes Earle (whose name I just learned how to pronounce correctly, because I am retarded) is Steve Earle’s son and a proper heir to that surname. Named partly after Dad’s friend Townes Van Zandt, 27-year-old Justin infuses his brand of Americana with a vibrant, organic streak of youth.

He does a surprisingly great cover of The Replacements’ 1987 classic “Can’t Hardly Wait.” It amazes me how this song is from an album typically thought of as all sloppy punk, but has these sterling country-road roots that Justin brings out so well. Justin’s also got strong strokes of that same off-kilter howl that Westerberg trademarked. Hearing this has made me smile.

Listen to the rest of this show over on the Live Music Archive, for a fine sampling of Justin’s original songs interspersed with classic covers of Woody Guthrie, Mississippi John Hurt, dad Steve Earle, Blind Blake, Townes Van Zandt, and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Tomorrow Paul Westerberg will be releasing “49 minutes of music for 49 cents” on his website (yes, that does actually still direct you to an AOL page, don’t hold it against him). I believe this is the first new solo material from the former Replacements frontman since 2006′s Open Season soundtrack. Curious!

Speaking of the Twin Cities region, Paul Westerberg did this very cool interview + performance for 500 people last weekend at First Avenue in MPLS for a series called The Craft (not to be confused with the superb artistic statement of the Neve Campbell movie; this is a program hosted by musician Warren Zanes). I had heard about this but don’t have friends in Minneapolis that were planning to attend. But hey! Bruce from Some Velvet Blog happened to be gone from his native Philly that day, was in Minneapolis, and wrote up a wonderful little piece about the session and set, as well as details on some of the things Paul shared about his music and The Replacements.

Westerberg performed ten tunes altogether (a truly lovely setlist), including one new song and one unreleased:

VIDEO: PAUL WESTERBERG – “EVERYONE’S STUPID”(NEW SONG)

VIDEO: PAUL WESTERBERG – “MAKE THE BEST OF ME” (UNRELEASED)(from the All Shook Down era)

Hey, I want to repost the original mp3s I ripped from these YouTube videos, marginally crappy as they may be, but I overzealously deleted them off my computer. I know this sounds odd, but if you snagged ‘em when I first posted them, could you email them to me? Save me some hassle. Thanks.

“Jesse Malin has just finished recording his third record titled Glitter In The Gutter, to be released in early 2007 on Adeline Records/East West. This album follows his two previous critically acclaimed releases: 2004′s The Heat, and 2002′s The Fine Art of Self Destruction. Glitter In The Gutter was recorded in various studios over the summer in Millbrook, New York; North Hollywood, CA; and in Jesse’s native borough of Queens, New York.

Guests on the album include a special vocal performance by Bruce Springsteen, Chris Shifflett of the Foo Fighters, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, long time pal Ryan Adams as well as members of Jesse’s own touring and recording band “The Heat.” Many of the songs on the new album were written on electric guitar in Jesse’s basement rehearsal studio in New York City over the past year.

After working up demos of the songs, Jesse chose to work with producers Rob Caggiano and Eddie Wohl of Scrap 60. The album will include an intimate acoustic version of The Replacements‘ classic ‘Bastards of Young.’ CD will hit stores in early 2007.”

I love that title, Glitter in the Gutter. Can’t wait to hear it. He’s got a handful of shows coming up, mostly East Coast. Tomorrow night (9/13) he headlines one final show at The Continental in NYC, on 9/19 at the Barnes & Noble (!!) in Union Square, 10/1 in Ringwood NJ, 10/12 at the Tin Angel in Philly, 10/14 at the Club Cafe in Pittsburgh, and 10/18 at Schuba’s in Chicago.

Here’s the original ‘Mats track that he covers on the new album, if you don’t have it:

Oh, this is soooo good: classic ‘Mats flavor and a rocking sound on this, the first new Replacements song in 16 years. I am loving it. The song was premiered earlier today on the Jim Rome show, which seemed an odd choice to many (apparently he is a sports radio guy), but his passion about music came through as he talked about his time working on college radio and his love for the Replacements.

[stream] Message To The Boys – The Replacements[stream] Pool & Dive – The ReplacementsIf these links don’t work on your computer (it should pop up a window to play the clips in Quicktime), go to the main page to select a sound sample.

Also, according to the Men Without Ties fansite, The Jim Rome show will play both new songs in their entirety this Thursday, May 4. Both Paul and Tommy are scheduled to call in as well. For a list of stations that play the show, as well as online listening information, see here.

The web was abuzz earlier this week after a mysterious photo circulating on the Internet sparked rumors that the Replacements had reunited to record new material.

The picture, which was posted Monday on the gossip site Buddyhead.com, shows Replacements drummer Chris Mars, bassist Tommy Stinson and vocalist/guitarist Paul Westerberg posing in a recording studio with session drummer Josh Freese. By mid-day Tuesday, it had been removed from Buddyhead.com as well as from a Westerberg fan site.

However, as of today ‘Mats fans everywhere are doing the happy dance after it was confirmed that Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars reunited to record two new songs for an upcoming retrospective, Don’t You Know Who I Think I Was?: The Best of the Replacements. Due June 13 via Rhino Records, the set will feature “Message to the Boys” and “Pool & Dive,” the band’s first new recordings in 16 years.

Session drummer Josh Freese was behind the kit for the new recordings, while Mars, who in recent years has foregone music for an art career, contributed backing vocals. The songs were written by Westerberg and were recorded at producer Ed Ackerson’s Flowers studio in Minneapolis. Currently it is unclear if any further activity is brewing within the Replacements’ camp.

Westerberg said in 2005 that he still reflects fondly on the Replacements’ early days, especially “when we were riding in the van and we ripped the seats out and would just listen to tapes and listen to Black Flag. [We would] sort of slam dance and stuff around in the back of the van and be drinking hard liquor at noon and it was just, you know, carefree times. We didn’t give a damn.”

Meanwhile, sources say the long-awaited Replacements boxed set is still in the planning stages and will not be out until 2007 at the earliest. Rhino is also working on expanded editions of the Replacements’ albums, but no release date has yet been announced for those packages either.

Sometimes in this world someone takes time to do something nice simply out of the goodness of their heart. Recently, friendly-guy Jerry took the time to make and mail me two CDs jam-packed with some great rarities, b-sides, live cuts, and non-album tracks from some of my favorite rough rockers Paul Westerberg & The Replacements. Why? Just because.

Now I share my largesse with you. Both are in zip format, and there are some real standouts here (and tons of covers, which I find fascinating to see how they put their own stamp on such a wide variety of influences). And thanks to Dean for filling in some of the provenance blanks.

Search:

About Me

Name: Heather BrowneLocation: Colorado, originally by way of CaliforniaGiving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook

"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."—Hunter S. Thompson

Let's be Friends

About The Songs

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

Archives

I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS is brought to you by Fuel/Friends LLC. Ownership of all audio and visual material displayed here remains with their creators and/or owners and is cited accordingly.. Illustrations by Luke Flowers. Design & Layout by Dayjob.